Week 30 felt like it went by way too fast. My kids' last week of Summer, as they go back to school tomorrow. All four of us went to the Atlanta United Leagues' Cup game Friday night, which they lost on Penalty Kicks. While it was a good time because all four of us were there, it's been a rough season to be an Atlanta United fan. After seven years, since their first season, of having season tickets, I think I might be canceling for next season, because they raised the price again. We haven't been having as much fun at the games as we used to. I'm still waffling though.
This week's media consumption has been Olympics, Olympics, Olympics. I really enjoyed watching the Opening Ceremony live, and am really glad I have nothing to do with LA 2028 because that thing would be a hard act to follow. There are currently three TV's in our house streaming different sports. I am, of course, watching the surfing from Tahiti, which is once of the coolest venues on our tour. My older son has been fencing for years, and this is one of the very few opportunities to watch that sport at its highest level. The whole family has been watching those events.
Watching the USA basketball teams is, for me, just so much fun. I'm excited for another week of this. The huge smile on Kevin Durant's face during their game against Serbia brought a smile to mine, too.
I really enjoyed this Atlanta Michelin Eats Video from a YouTuber who I wasn't previously familiar with, Mike Chen. A few of my favorite spots were featured in this video, like Fred's Meat & Bread, Arepa Mia and Food Terminal. It still had some that I haven't tried, and those have been added to me to do list. There's something fun about watching travel and food videos about the town you live in.
I finished four books this week.
After really enjoying my read of Moonbound last week, I managed to find Sourdough by Robin Sloan on Libby and it was available! This one was a quick read, delightful as well, and I will read his other book as soon as the queue comes up. This book made me want colder weather so I could enjoy a nice bowl of soup and a piece of sourdough.
I continue to plow through all of Erik Larson's books, this week it was The Demon of Unrest. This one is mostly about the start of the Civil War and Fort Sumnter. It provides a real lot of details about the transition from the Buchanan administration to the Lincoln administration and the origins of secession. It's not one I would recommend unless you are really interested in that amount of information on that topic, but I really got a lot out of it.
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang had been on my Libby queue for a really long time, I think since last Summer. This book about a chef working for a billionaire in a timeline where planet's food supply has been disrupted is well crafted and worth your time, especially if you're really into food. It actually paired well in a weird way with Sourdough above, without any intention to pair them on my part.
Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Niobe Inazō reads like a guide to the chivalric traditions of Japan. I mainly read this looking for parallels to Stoic thought, and they were there. It is a very old book, and felt old.
I've been meaning for a few weeks to find one of these entries to talk about the pair of Ray-Ban | Meta Glasses that I bought and have been using. First, I don't particularly trust Facebook/Meta, and I have turned off anything even remotely creepy with these. No location services especially. I mainly use them when I go for walks, which have been much more frequent since my surgery in May. For this purpose, these things are an amazing combination of sunglasses/headphones/camera. The pictures they take are actually pretty good, the headphones are serviceable. I'm getting a fair amount of use from them. Again, not wearing these anywhere where taking pictures would be creepy.
With the holiday, and how overwhelmed I have been returning to work during our busiest season, I decided to combine two weeks of updates into a single post. For those in the States, hope you have a great 4th of July weekend.
I've had a pretty great, but stressful, couple of weeks. I continue to be able to do more and more post-surgery, and went to the gym a couple of times this week. I'm mostly still just walking, but am starting to work on my mobility and doing some band and body weight strength stuff. Some really sore days.
I finished "There Is No Antimemetics Division" by qntm. I found this science fiction book to be quite a mind expander, very inventive, has a certain modern-Lovecraft vibe to it too. Highly recommend. You can find more information on qntm's site. I'm going to be reading everything else by him.
I also finished "Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania" by Erik Larsen, the second book of his I've read in a few weeks. This one was great, a lot about the time period, German U-boats, the beginning of WWI and the US's entrance into the conflict. I really didn't know much about the Lusitania going in, so I soaked up a lot of new information. This won't be the last Erik Larsen book I will be reading this year.
I watched this Salt Hank video about making Anthony Bourdain's favorite sandwich, which led me to make this sandwich, and now it's one of my favorites, too. I've made it a couple of times, and I have to say that it will be a permanent part of my lunch rotation moving forward. I wish I had known to go and try it where he discovered it in São Paulo. I was there two years ago.
We finished watching The Bear: Season Three. I wish there was more that I hadn't watched yet, but that's all there is for now. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about this show. The music selection and how the music is folded into the episodes is just so good. Here's an unofficial Spotify Playlist. Finally, watching episode six, the "Napkins" episode, I was struck by how it is, in part, an homage to Groundhog Day, one of my all time favorite movies. (If you're familiar with Groundhog Day, and you watch this episode, you'll get it.)
It's funny, I have been meaning to do a quick writeup about the Boox Palma here as part of one of these posts, and in the last couple of weeks it feels like its press footprint has just exploded. Bump favorite David Pierce had a nice writeup that referenced the same Craig Mod post that led me to buy one. I purchased mine a couple of weeks before I went in for my surgery, in April. I thought I might want something smaller than a regular Kindle in the hospital and during my recovery, and that's exactly how I started using mine. Since then, I have been carrying mine in my sling bag everywhere I go. It's a great device for the pool, the waiting room, or while waiting in line, and the battery lasts.
Having this device has made me realize how frustrated I am with the lack of any kind of innovation with the Kindles in recent years. I do love my Paperwhite, but there's so much more that Amazon could be doing. More competition in this market is great, and I hope the press that the Palma is getting turns into more readers.
Here are some things I've been enjoying recently, in no specific order. I am not compensated in any way, even referral payments, for these links. Hope I turn someone else onto something they enjoy.
This is an equivalent for rowing to Peloton, and by all accounts the best interactive rower on the market. I grew up as an endurance athlete, but I just hate riding stationary bikes, and I find rowing a better workout as well. Hydrow offers great instructors, a great community of people to support you as you progress, and it has worked for me. I know, this thing is crazy expensive, and also requires a monthly subscription, but I was able to cancel my gym membership altogether. We’ve had ours for about 11 months now, and I have worked out on it 300 days. This device, and the service it comes with, which includes guided yoga, pilates and strength classes, has been a key to maintaining my sanity and improving my fitness over the last year. Since we purchased it, I have lost about 26 pounds. (I don’t care that much about weight, I care about fitness, but it’s still an encouraging metric.)
I love this little wireless charging stand that I keep on my desk. It holds/charges my iPhone 12 Pro Max in either portrait or landscape, making it great for my ten hour shifts monitoring the live streaming coverage of our events through our app. It also wirelessly charges my AirPods Pro. It’s a game changer to be able to see your phone screen while sitting at your computer.
You may not be able to find these too far outside of Atlanta yet, but I'm fairly certain that you will be able to at some point. While most cocktails in a can that I have tried have been, frankly, gross, Tip Top came to the table with Old Fashioned, Negroni and Manhattan cocktails in a well designed can that are delicious, and have become a staple for me. In the last month, they added new Daiquiri and Bee's Knees cocktails to the lineup, and these two are both a welcome taste of Summer. I am not recommending their Margarita though. Start this Summer with the Daiquiri, you won't regret it. So great for a delicious cocktail on the go.
This neighborhood burrito joint opened last month in Kirkwood, on the edge of the Atlanta/Decatur line. If you are local, I would recommend joining their mailing list, which gives you ordering access to their Wednesday pre-order an hour earlier than people not in the know. Most burritos are protein-rich breakfast bombs, really flavorful and very filling. Each week they change their menu, introducing a new meat burrito, a new veggie burrito and a new frozen burrito, typically all named in some theme. (This week is Steve Martin themed.) There have been weeks, since they opened, when I have consumed one of their burritos for lunch 5 out of 7 days.
What a great weekend, we didn’t do much out of the ordinary, but it was a really relaxing and constructive couple of days, with some high quality NBA Playoff games, and an Atlanta United victory mixed in. I’m continuing to take it easy, and my energy has returned, albeit slowly. I mostly played Hearthstone and Vainglory over the weekend, I want to play more PC games, but didn’t feel like shutting myself off from the family to play this weekend.
We finished our Lego Ship in a Bottle this weekend. Lots of little pieces.
I did also take my sons to the Pop’s Pancakes pop up at the Spindle on Sunday. If you have the chance to try these pancakes from my buddy Jeff, you definitely should check them out. I had the breakfast sandwich with Delia’s Chicken Sausage, and I am hooked.
A couple of Kickstarters of note that I wanted to mention. Both are fully funded.
Time is starting to wind down on the Mark One Pen from the Studio Neat guys. This pen checks all the boxes, and my friends over at the Pen Addict podcast had nothing but nice things to say about it, which is good enough for me.
The second one is the Kira Mechanical Keyboard from the Input Club. These guys really know how to put together a nice board, and I currently have and use a White Fox at home. This board is unique in that it’s the smallest footprint you can squeeze a full sized keyboard into. It’s a bit pricey, but compared to similar keyboards, it’s a good price for the high quality they produce.
Some things I am enjoying.
Picked up a Schon DSGN Limited Edition “Punk Rock Pink” pen a couple of weeks ago, and it’s become my EDC pocket pen. I’ve always like the Fischer Space Pen refill, and this colorway is striking. This color is sold out, but they have a lot of other combinations that are equally as nice.
Upgraded my computer audio monitors to these Mackie Monitors. (Amazon affiliate link) I had been using the same Bose setup for maybe ten years before this. These speakers also support Bluetooth, so I can pipe other audio to them when I am not using my gaming PC. They sound great, and are small enough that I didn’t really have to make any huge changes. I am running out of plugs to power things in my home office.
You are authority-challenging: you prefer to challenge authority and traditional values to help bring about positive changes. You are dutiful: you take rules and obligations seriously, even when they're inconvenient. And you are hedonistic: you feel your desires strongly and are easily tempted by them.
You are motivated to seek out experiences that provide a strong feeling of organization.
You don't find either tradition or taking pleasure in life to be particularly motivating for you. You care more about making your own path than following what others have done. And you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment.
Since reading Matthew’s review, I decided to jot down a few thoughts on this item as well. I’m not sure when Nock will make it available to regular people via their site, but well, home field advantage. Update: These are going live at Noon today, November 30th, 2015.
I picked up one of these cases in waxed canvas a few weeks ago when Nock Co. had a booth at a pop up shop for American made goods at Ponce City Market here in Atlanta. Like Matthew says in his review, this thing is boss. I like mine so much that it’s become a permanent part of my backpack load out, and I think I want to pick up a second one.
I have been using Field Notes for my Bullet Journal pursuits for the last few weeks, and so this is a good match, I keep a couple of recently filled notebooks, and the next one I am going to use. I have been carrying three pens, each with a different load out.
I also keep a few Frictionless Capture Cards tucked in. Sadly, they went out of business, and once my current supply of these cards is gone, I will probably move on to these Nock Co. DotDash Cards.
I’d read or heard, I think on the Pen Addict podcast, that the case doesn’t quite hold an iPhone 6 Plus, but mine actually does hold one and zip up. That’s actually why I think I might pick up a second Sinclair case, as I have a work 6 plus that I keep in my daily carry backpack monstrosity. Here’s a shot of my 6 plus tucked into the Sinclair.
I’m totally sold on this case, and highly recommend it. Nock Co. makes really high quality product right here in Atlanta, and I’ve never had any issues or been disappointed with anything I have bought from them. I think I might grab a couple of zipper pulls from them after seeing Matthews configuration, but otherwise, this is the perfect carry for my Field Notes, Word Notebooks, and three pens, which is the most I really would use anyway.
I’d also love to see one of these in a larger size that was designed to hold a Hobonichi Techo. There’s such a lack of good cases that are meant to hold the Techo, and it’s gotten more popular. Seems like a real market opportunity to me.
Hell's Half Acre has a great e-card section where you can send e-postcards to people with sentiments like "i hate you", "shut up", and the ever popular "burn in hell."
There's a great assortment of things being posted to Monkey Fist .
In a brief perusal, I found Running Tally to be very very good. It led me to usr/bin/girl which I also enjoyed. Finally, I ended up at Hit or Miss , which rounded out my surfing session perfectly.
We are still without Cable, and have been since last night due to a rare ice storm here in the ATL. Normally, I could care less, but I wanted and planned to watch football today while redoing my Mac from scratch with a new SCSI hard drive I picked up a couple of weeks ago and a new LCD monitor that was too good a deal to resist.
Of course, with the cable out, I resorted to leaving the premises and found myself at the brand new Atlanta ESPN Zone . It was very crowded and impossible to get a seat or food. I imagine it will be like that for the next few weeks. It doesn't officially open until next weekend. I did get to see the Sportscenter anchors in person.
I started using ICQ again today. You can now tell if I'm online by looking at the flower at the bottom of the page.
Somehow I missed the fact that today is Groundhog's Day . I've made the pilgramage to Punxsutawney, PA twice to see Phil on his big day. There's nothing better than spending all night in below freezing weather in a clearing. I had a great time on both trips. There was alcohol comsumption involved(how else would I have been able to stay outside in the freezing cold all night.) Thanks to Mirasol for reminding me.
Willie B. dies . I was just at the zoo four weeks ago and saw him. He sat, ignoring the obnoxious humans, proud and regal. He's been an Atlanta landmark for years. There's a picture gallery of him up on the Web too.
Oh yeah, there's a Weblog for this year's SXSW.(I'm going.)
Quite a lot of buzz today over the new home page design that Amazon.com is testing.(According to this News.com article ) You might or might not get the new design when you log onto their site. Personally, I like the previous, tab based(and oft-copied) design better. IMHO it was warmer and more innovative.
Speaking of redesigns, Version Tracker , the best place to stay up to date on Macintosh software releases, has redesigned and added an email notification service. Not surprisingly, I don't really like the new identity or navigation.
As if no one learned the horrible lesson of DIVX, here's someone trying to do the same thing.(via Looka)
The Super Bowl is coming to town this week. I work about 300 yards from the Georgia Dome, so I'm sure I'm going to see some interesting things in our neighborhood this week. The first signs were giant ABC trucks getting off the highway en masse this week.
Things haven't slowed down here at all. I've started making the transition between jobs, working on closing up shop and getting integrated with the new company. Two very different cultures, and it's going to be an interesting two weeks as I make this transition.
I went to the Opening Night Thrashers game tonight. Very exciting to be part of the start of this new franchise. The Thrashers lost to the New Jersey Devils 4-1, but they played well. Here's the ESPN recap . I expect them to win a few games this season because they play in the weakest division in the NHL. I still haven't gotten my pictures from the games developed yet. Tonight they gave out this neat leather ticket holder with a clear plastic cover to preserve your opening game ticket. I have tickets for their next home game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Even better, I'm updating Bump with my new iBook . The second one arrived on Wednesday as promised. I'm quite pleased with Apple's response to my immediate issues. It's a pleasure to use, the keyboard has a nice tactile feel to it and the display is bright. The screen isn't as small feeling as I thought it would be. I had forgotten how much easier to use Apple's laptops are in multiple locations than Windows 9x laptops are. The Location Manager makes transitions between work and home much easier for me than on my Gateway. The iBook is a little heavier than I thought it would be, and the speaker is weak, but these are the only two complaints I have so far. It's faster than I thought it would be, and the battery life seems to be close to five hours(although Apple advertises 6 hours). I've installed about half of the software I use on it, and I have about 2 Gb of hard drive space left. I wish they had gone with a 6 Gb hard drive. Overall, I think it's a good consumer laptop or limited use machine for a power user. I plan on using it until the G4 laptops are released.
Iconfactory has redesigned their site. I like the new design much better than the previous black background version. They've also added a section of current events links that are useful.
Despite the fact that the site is almost maddening to use, Mikworks has some fantastic icons available for Windows and Mac OS.
I've been listening to Fu Manchu every day. It's fantastic, Black Sabbath influenced, music that is perfect for driving in Atlanta traffic. They are about to come out with a new release, and will be touring the US in February after they have finished their European tour.
I plan on returning to normal updates this week. I've been through an enormous emotional upheavel through this work decision, but I think I'm finally adjusted to the idea.
Maybe it had something to do with parting with all of my old change, but I've been at a loss this week to figure out where all of my motivation went. I feel like a real big slacker. It bothers me that I seem to be this fragile. Here's an Onion story that seems very on-topic.
Handspring has released the details of their Visor product which is based on the Palm OS.(Complete with pictures) Their site seems to have a lot of broken links to images this morning, but the devices look great, come in several colors, and are cheaper than a traditional Palm from Palm Computing. They also have a special expansion slot that accomodates things like modems, extra memory, MP3 players and software. The $249 model comes with 8Mb of memory.
My iBook order is "Being Assembled." I called and it should ship within the next two weeks.
My tickets for this weekends Thrashers pre-season games and the regular season games I ordered tickets for in advance came today. The game on Saturday will be the first played in the new Philips Arena here in Atlanta. I excited to be part of this new team as a fan.
